FA Cup Third Round Preview: First cup weekend of 2024 set to provide goals

With the 2023/24 English football season in full-swing we will be taking a look at one of England’s biggest (and football’s oldest) competitions as we take a deep dive into two of the FA Cup Third Round fixtures.

We preview two of the fixtures below.

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Sunderland v Newcastle – Saturday, 12:45

What has proven to be an extraordinary clash in the past, this year’s Tyne-Wear derby takes place in the Third Round of the FA Cup at the Stadium of Light. Despite being winless in their last nine meetings with Sunderland in all competitions, and this being their first fixture since 2016, Newcastle are 4/6 favourites to come away victorious.

Sunderland are at 3/1 to win on Saturday, which would mark a fourth home victory in a row for the Black Cats against their north-east rivals – a feat never before achieved in the club’s 144-year history. However, the odds don’t stack up in their favour with regards to their history in the FA Cup, where they have lost their last four ties against Premier League opposition. Newcastle, however, have gone out at this stage in each of the last three seasons, with defeats against opponents from a lower division in the last two.

It has been a rocky couple of weeks for the Magpies and Eddie Howe in the Premier League with the team’s confidence seemingly dented after their failed European. Availability is another of Howe’s issues with Harvey Barnes, Callum Wilson, Joe Willock, Nick Pope, Jacob Murphy, Elliot Anderson, and Sandro Tonali all out, whilst Kieran Trippier’s fitness is uncertain. Sunderland have secured seven points from their last three Championship games, putting them a keen sixth, putting pressure on that play-off chance in May, and will be looking to further their gleaming record against their rivals.

We’re predicting an exciting game full of goals, with both teams to score at 8/13. Leading the anytime goalscorer market for the depleted Newcastle team is Alexander Isak at EVS, who netted in their 4-2 defeat to Liverpool in their last game, followed closely by Anthony Gordon at 2/1 who has had a phenomenal season so far. From the Black Cats, Jack Clarke is 27/10 to find the back of the net in his first Tyne-Wear derby and Ukrainian centre-forward Nazariy Rusyn will also be pining after a goal at 16/5.

Arsenal v Liverpool – Sunday, 16:30

This is the main clash of the round as two Premier League Giants face off so early in the competition. Arsenal are no strangers to FA Cup success having won it 14 times, the most recent of which brought Mikel Arteta’s first trophy with the club in 2020. Arsenal are the favourites at 10/11 to overcome The Reds on Sunday. Liverpool, also regulars in this competition winning it eight times, are looking to improve on what was a lacklustre season last year and Jurgen Klopp will be keen to add this trophy to their cabinet, with odds of 2/1 to beat The Gunners.

The match will take place at the Emirates, giving Arsenal the home advantage, however there are a few injuries and absences which could prove damaging to their chances in the game. Oleksandr Zinchenko is the key injury doubt, with Takehiro Tomiyasu heading to the Asian Cup shortly before Sunday’s game. Thomas Partey and Fabio Vieira are also looking unlikely to return before the weekend and Mohamed Elneny has left for AFCON.

Liverpool could also field a relatively strong team but the main news is that of Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo being absent due to AFCON and then Asian Cup respectively. Yet again, Salah has been a pivotal figure in the team’s success thus far in the Premier League and his absence could prove to be the differential in this game.

Arsenal look to be the pick here as they have won three FA Cup meetings in a row in this fixture and will be looking to add to that tally. This is another game we can expect goals in and we have both teams to score at 8/15.

The usual suspects will be looking to write their names on the scoresheet, with Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus both 11/5 to score anytime. For Liverpool, it is Darwin Nunez who leads the charge at 12/5 and Cody Gakpo (5/2) second favourite to score in the match. Recently we have seen the return of the Portuguese forward Diogo Jota who found the back of the net in the 90th minute in a 2-0 win against Burnley on Boxing Day – he is 13/5 to do the same at the Emirates.

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